If you're dead set on going to this school make sure you hold out for a lot of scholarship money. Last cycle I was initially offered 8.5K a year and tried to negotiate with other offers and was shot down. First deposit deadline passed and I didn't deposit with them and they sent me an email soon after basically saying "We know the deadline passed, just kidding, take your time! And if you think more money would make your decision easier just let us know!" I did nothing. Then like two months later they sent me another email basically saying I could have more if I just asked. They also accepted people that they had already rejected that cycle. They were super desperate.

Whether this school should even exist I will leave up to you to decide after you do your own research but if you decide to go then make sure you squeeze every last drop of money out of them.

I'm nervous. I also submitted it for Early Action. I don't feel that I'm an auto-admit though.

Thanks for the tips BigZuck. I live nearby and plan to practice in this area as well. I'll save a lot of money by not needing to move away. But I do plan to negotiate as much as possible, (I'm hoping) with peer school offers.

Last edited by MsAvocadoPit on Sun Mar 17, 2013 4:44 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Sorry, but going to Santa Clara is a waste of that GPA. If you back off the applications and study hard and pull your score up to a 160-165, you can easily get into some really good schools. If you take the time to hit upper 160s/170s you can get a T14, maybe with money.

Normally I wouldn't be the kind to bust into an unrelated thread, but I would murder someone for a 3.95.

Edit: That said, LawSchoolPredictor gives you a weak consider (37% chance) of admission at Santa Clara. For comparison, that would go up to an admit (95% chance) if you retook and got a 160.

Also it has been noted in previous posts that when you have "Decision Mailed" in your status, you may see dollar amounts change from $0 to $200 or $400 in the seat deposit section. This means you're in! But some people had reported it took awhile for it to change after the status changed -so seems to be the rule for the most part).

MsAvocadoPit wrote:Also it has been noted in previous posts that when you have "Decision Mailed" in your status, you may see dollar amounts change from $0 to $200 or $400 in the seat deposit section. This means you're in! But some people had reported it took awhile for it to change after the status changed -so seems to be the rule for the most part).

Hope this helps (or feeds the obsession!)

If anything, it's more likely the latter. I have so much down time that I can't not focus on it.

I went to committee 11/8, and then it updated on 11/9 with "In Committee" again. Hopefully something comes before Thanksgiving; otherwise, I'm going to be admitted to an insane asylum.

Edit: That said, LawSchoolPredictor gives you a weak consider (37% chance) of admission at Santa Clara. For comparison, that would go up to an admit (95% chance) if you retook and got a 160.

The suggestion to retake is good advice, as your GPA is stellar and a decent score and higher ranked school could mean the difference between job and no job as well as a substantial difference in lifetime earnings.

Having said that, the "37%" number on LSP is not "your chance of getting in," it is the percentage of last cycle's admitted class that had numbers "at or below" those numbers. Meaning 37% of the admitted class had a combination of numbers which equate to a 151 and 3.95. This really has nothing to do with your chances of admission. For example, say Yale has 2% of the admitted class "at or below" a 159 and a 3.8 (these numbers are made up) it doesn't mean someone with those numbers has a 2% chance of admission; this could simply mean that of 100 total admits (again a made up number) 98 came from the top 99.9th percentile and these 2 lucky individuals with a 159 and 3.8 or below came from a pool of 5000 applicants with similar numbers, which would mean someone with those numbers had a 2/5000 (1/2500 or .04%) chance of being admitted, if all else was equal.

Retake in December and shoot for the moon. Do as much prep as possible between now and then. If not, I still think you have a decent shot at SC, but with 10 more points you could be looking at an admit to just about any other California school (21% at/below at Stanford, 50% at/below at Berkeley, 32% UCLA, 46% USC, 58% Davis, 70% Hastings).

No matter which school it is, retaking the LSAT is always good to try to increase your chance at scholarship money. Though I'd like to keep this thread focused on this school (chances at acceptance/waitlist/denials etc), rather than advocating for higher ranked schools.

That being said, I think dmgoor01 has a better chance at getting in THIS YEAR with 151, whereas I think that 151 would have been an autoding a few years ago. Their applications were down last year and their total class size decreased significantly.

I appreciate your all's commentary and opinions on my unique application numbers.Retaking is easy to recommend as the logical decision based on numbers, salary, and other figures alone. But I have many personal circumstances that really do not enable me to take a year off. In addition, I'm perfectly okay with attending a school like Santa Clara.

Does my applying EA have any bearing on my chances? I'm currently in committee, and I'm really trying to get a gauge of where my chances are at. I've applied ED to USD, which is a whole other matter in and of itself. I feel like my chances are slightly higher at SCU, but I'm really hoping that I am accepted to USD.

Also, the above poster brings up a point that I am very confused on and that maybe someone can shed some light on. Does the decrease in applications/enrolled students help my chances as they're most willing to sacrifice on numbers to get students to fill seats, or will they simply accept less students and cut class sizes? I've talked to many people will varying opinions.

dmgoor01 wrote:I appreciate your all's commentary and opinions on my unique application numbers.Retaking is easy to recommend as the logical decision based on numbers, salary, and other figures alone. But I have many personal circumstances that really do not enable me to take a year off. In addition, I'm perfectly okay with attending a school like Santa Clara.

Does my applying EA have any bearing on my chances? I'm currently in committee, and I'm really trying to get a gauge of where my chances are at. I've applied ED to USD, which is a whole other matter in and of itself. I feel like my chances are slightly higher at SCU, but I'm really hoping that I am accepted to USD.

Also, the above poster brings up a point that I am very confused on and that maybe someone can shed some light on. Does the decrease in applications/enrolled students help my chances as they're most willing to sacrifice on numbers to get students to fill seats, or will they simply accept less students and cut class sizes? I've talked to many people will varying opinions.

I think what the other poster was getting at in terms of your chances being higher this year is the fact that LSAT administrations have been dropping off for the last two years, more from the high end of scorers than the low end (so I've read), and the result is an applicant pool with lower numbers. While some schools have cut class size last year and/or this year I'm presuming most will be trying to keep a full roster and may accept lower numbers in the process.

If SCU is where you want to be then I think that is a fine decision. As far as retaking, I realize everyone's circumstance is different. If you can get in for the December administration the release of your numbers might precede your decision, and could therefore potentially be considered (this cycle). If you don't take December but take February and get an admit sometime before the test/number release you could take the score you receive in March and attempt to negotiate a more favorable scholarship/financial aid deal. As has been alluded to, the difference in tuition could be 10's of thousands of dollars a year. It might be worth it to you, but these are simply suggestions. Take them if they are of use, and if they aren't then fughettaboutit!

Good luck on your apps!

Last edited by CO2016YEAH on Sun Nov 11, 2012 11:30 pm, edited 2 times in total.

Oh, I missed the question about EA. I have not read or spoken to SC, specifically, about this. However, the general rule of thumb (from the schools I have looked at and talked to on the matter) is that the benefit of EA is simply getting a decision sooner and being able to plan earlier as a result. Of course, there may be an advantage to being part of a smaller applicant pool, but, of course, schools are going to want to keep their numbers higher so I think you are more likely to still be waitlisted if your #'s are soft. I'm merely speculating here, but it might even be possible that you could be flat out rejected at EA if your numbers are soft and the adcom thinks you won't get in; I believe Dean Schwartz at UCLA alluded to this much in his TLS interview. In my opinion the EA might help you at SCU, as I still think your numbers are adequately competitive; remember, more than a third of the admitted class had the same or worse numbers last cycle.

As far as UCD, I think your chances at SCU are more than "slightly" better, meaning I think you stand a good chance at SCU and a slim to (sorry to say it) nil chance at Davis.

Again, bear in mind that everything that I've said is coming from a current law school applicant just like you. None of this is gospel, it's just my take based on what I've read/heard etc.